Steam-tubbine



H'. H. WAH.

STEAM TURBINE. APPLLCATION FILED MAR27. i919vl 1,364,012.. Patented Dec. 28, 192.0.'

UNITan sTATes PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY H. WAIT, OF ANDERSON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR IO MIDWEST ENGINE COM- PANY, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

STEAM-TURBINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dee. 2s, 1920.

Application led March 27, 1919. Serial No. 285,667.

To all 'whom it may con-cera:

Be it known that I, HENRY H. IVAIT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Anderson, in the county of Madison, State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam-Turbines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to turbines of the single wheel return type in which the steam passes through the wheel axially and is received from and returned to the wheel by a return guide, and has for its object to simplify and reduce the expense of manufacture of the same, and facilitate the adjustment of the return guides relative to the wheel. In the vertical machines of this Ytype it has been found of advantage to construct the casing of the machines in two parts, t-he line of division being on a horizontal plane through the axis thereof. The steam nozzles, of which there are ordinarily two, enter the casing at its lower part and discharge the steam into the wheel substantially at the lowest portion of its circumference, and the return guides which receive the steam after it has passed from the nozzles through the wheels for the first time are necessarily correspondingly located on the opposite side of the wheel. In order to secure the desired efficiency of operation it is essential that the return guides as well as the nozzles be accurately adjusted into close relation to the perimeter of the wheel and the buckets thereon. For this purpose it has been heretofore proposed to form the casing with inward projections extending toward the wheel'which must be finished 0E smooth and plane to furnish a perfectly flat bearing surface for the reception of the steam guide support, which 1s secured thereto by mea-ns of bolts which are inserted from the inside ofv the casing through holes prepared for them in the steam guide support and tapped into corresponding holes in the interior of the casing. Because of the naccessibility of the portion of the casing to which I have referred, the above operations are exceedingly difficult as the parts have to be gotten at through the open top of the casing section. By my improvement the above difficulties are obviated there being no necessity for planing or otherwise finishing the inner part of the interior of the casing, all of the machining or the like which is required being done outside or from the outside of the casing,

and the adjusting may be accomplished from the exterior.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown, and in the following specification described a preferred embodiment of my invention;` it is to be understood however that the specific disclosure is for the purpose of exemplitication only and that the scope of the invention is defined in the following claims in which I have endeavored to dis tinguish it from the prior art without,hoW ever, relinquishingor abandoning any portion or feature thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying the preferred form of' my invention, parts be ing shown in axial Vertical section; Fig. v2 is a substantially horizontal section through the machine taken however on a curved line or surface through the steam guide concen- ,tric with the axis of the turbine; Fig. 3 is a detail of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale, and Fig. 4 is a modification of a detail shown in transverse vertical section on a slightly enlarged scale.

kReferring more particularly to Fig. 1,- the turbine is shown asV comprising two main castings, an upper casing section 4, anda lowercasing section 5 which together inc'losc the single wheel 6 and are secured together at the horizontal axial plane 7 by flanges 8, 9 and bolts 10. The turbine shaft 11 is supported in bearings 12 and one endof said shaft carries a governor 13' of knowntype for controlling the steam supply. In Fig. 2, I have shown the turbine as provided with a pair of nozzles 14, 15 which receive their steam supply from some common source through a steam passage 16'in which is mounted a balanced valve 17 controlled by lever 18 from the governor. The nozzles 14, l5 are carried on turrets 19, 20, respectively, which project through openings 21, 22 in the wall 23 ofthe lower casing section. Thesteam return guides 24, 25 are mounted upon the opposite wall 26 of the casing and in proper relation to the respective nozzles 14, 15. The turbine as thus far described is well known in the art, and further description thereof is unnecessary for a proper understanding of the invention. In the preferred form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the casing is formed with an inwardly extending boss 27 or bosses, depending upon the number of steam return guides, and the boss is centrally bored and tapped as at 28 from the outside of the casing, and it is preferably formed with a coaxial recess 29 for a purpose which will appear. Where more than one steam guide is employed the number of such bosses will, of course, be correspond ingly increased. A spacing or adjusting member 3() is formed with a hollow exteriorly threaded shank 3l and a head 52, said shank being screwed into the tapped opening in the boss from the inside of the casing so that the head 32 thereof is within the casing and may be adjusted toward or from the boss by rotating it, the head preferably being formed with pits or openings 33 for this purpose. The outer face of the head is perfectly plane and smooth and adapted to form a support or abutment for the vertical flange 34 on the steam return guide 35. The latter may be of any usual or approved form and is shown as containing the usual steam passages 36. (See Fig, 2). Preferably the flange 3d of the steam guide is also machined smooth upon the side which is to bear upon the adjusting member so that it will have a firm bearing thereon. A headed bolt 37 is provided with a washer 38 and inserted from the exterior of the casing through the boss of the adjusting member and tapped into the fiange of the steam guide as at 39. Obviously by slightly loosening' the bolt or before the latter has been tightened up, the steam guide may be very nicely and accurately adjusted toward or from the wheel to give the necessary clearance between the guide and the buckets by turning the adjusting member. The guide flange, the head of the adjusting' member and the boss on the casing are locked in position by the vtaper pin 4l() after being adjusted. After the adjustment of the parts has been completed and the bolt 37 tightened up, the pin is driven in to secure the parts from relative movementto each other. A plug 41 is used to close the chamber 29 when the adjustment of the parts has been completed and thus prevent the escape of steam.

Obviously, in assembling the construction the spacing or adjusting member is first screwed into its opening from the interior of the casing, the steam return guide insert ed into the casing and held in position on the adjusting member by the bolt, the foregoing being accomplished before the wheel is put into the casing. The wheel is then put in and the steam guide carefully adjusted in the manner heretofore indicated. Obviously no work is required to be done on the interior of the casing in order to secure the steam guide in position, and the latter may be accurately and readily adjusted to the wheel.

1n the form of the invention shown in Fig. et the adjusting member is omitted and in this instance the boss 27 is preferably planed or grooved to receive the flange of the steam guide at The steam guide is held in position on the boss by a bolt extend ing through a bore in the boss and tapped into the flange of the steam guide. A chamber la in the exterior of the casing about the head of the bolt is closed by a screw plug a5. ln this form of the invention the :finishing of the surface of the interior boss is not dispensed with, but the assembling of the steam guide is very much facilitated by the particular construction for securing it to the boss. In both forms `of the invention described and shown the necessity of boring and tapping bolt holes from the interior of the casing, incident' to former constructions, is avoided, and in the preferred form first described no work whatever need be done on the interior of the casing. Moreover all of the holes on that side of the casing, both the bolt holes and those for the fastening of the steam guides may be bored by a gang drill without shift ing the casting relative thereto.

I claim:

1. 1n a steam turbine, a casing, a steam guide within the casing, a flange extending longitudinally of and substantially at right angles to the body of the steam guide and supported by a portion of the wall of the casing, and a headed bolt extending through the casing wall and tapped into the flange of the steam guide.

2. In a steam turbine of the class described, a casing having an inwardly projecting boss provided with a seat, a steam guide, a flange extending longitudinally of and substantially at right angles to the body of the steam guide and bearing upon the seat, and a bolt extending through the wall of the casing and tapped into the flange of the steam guide.

3. In a steam turbine, and in combination with the casing thereof, a hollow boss formed on the wall of said casing and projecting inwardly therefrom and adapted to form a support for a steam return guide, a steam return guide supported from said boss, a bolt extending through the boss and tapped into the steam return guide, and a 1threaded plug closing the hollow of the oss.

4r.. In a steam turbine, a casing having a tapped opening through the wall thereof, an adjusting member threaded into said tapped opening and extending into the interior of the casing, a steam return guide bearing upon the adjusting member, and means for securing the steam return guide in position.

5. In a steam turbine of the class described, a casing having a tapped opening in the wall thereof, an adjusting member screwed into said opening and having a head projecting into the casing, a steam return guide having a flange bearing on said head, and a bolt extending through the opening in the casing and tapped into the steam return guide.

6. In a steam turbine, a casing having a tapped opening therein, an adjusting member having a threaded shank adjustable in said tapped opening, a steam return guide having a flange seated upon the adjusting member, and a bolt extending through the adjusting member and tapped into the steam return guide.

7. In a steam turbine, a casing having a tapped opening therein, an adjusting member having a hollow threaded shank extending into the tapped opening, a steam return guide bearing on the adjusting member, a bolt extending through the tapped opening and through the hollow adjusting member and tapped into the steam return guide, and a pin extending through registering openings in the adjusting member and steam guide and locking them from relative rotation.

8. In a steam turbine and in combination with the casing thereof, said casing having an inwardly projecting boss perforated and tapped to provide an opening through the wall, said boss being formed on its exterior with an enlarged chamber, an adjusting member having a hollow threaded shank screwing into the boss, a steam return guide having a iange thereon bearing upon the adjusting member, a bolt extending through the threaded opening in the casing and through the adjusting member and tapped into the steam return guide, and a plug closing the chamber in the exterior of the boss.

9. In a turbine, a casing, a guide for the fluid, and adjustable means supporting the guide spaced from the wall of the casing.

10. In a turbine, a casing, a guide for the fluid in the casing, adjustable means for supporting the guide from the wall of the casing' and means accessible from the exterior of the casing for securing the guide 0n the adjustable means.

HENRY H. WAIT. 

